LeBron & Cleveland: Round 2

The impossible has happened. LeBron’s most recent move from Miami back to Cleveland for a 2-year $42.1 million deal has sparked an array of emotions being felt by basketball fans worldwide. There have been a lot of questions raised, especially towards the ethical aspects of LeBron’s decision to leave Miami.

When he announced he would leave Cleveland for the first time back in 2010, his reasons for doing so appeared to be very oriented towards winning an NBA championship (and why shouldn’t they be?). What I am trying to get at is, he took the chance to play with other NBA superstars such as Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh and ran with it. It is only logical to assume that the Miami Heat could not possibly afford to maintain a maximum salary cap for all three of these basketball icons. Therefore, he was willing to take a massive salary cut for a 5-year deal with Miami and the concept of money was not a main area of concern for him to catalyse his departure from Cleveland.

After winning two championships with Miami and being in the NBA finals for four consecutive years in a row, LeBron has decided that it is time to move on and go back home. There have been the typical responses from fans, such as burning his Miami Heat jersey in protest (a similar reaction when Dwight Howard moved from the LA Lakers to Houston Rockets), yet there has been speculation and eyebrows raised as to whether money is not in LeBron’s agenda anymore.

With current NBA cap regulations, LeBron would have received a maximum deal of $88 million over four years. However the cap changes are bound to increase within the next two years – oh what do you know! LeBron will be a free agent once again. He will therefore earn the $42.1 million on top of whatever his next contract will be. Some say he could be looking at an over $200 million deal!

So…is LeBron in it for the money? Or does he just want another championship? OR…could he be killing two birds with one stone in Cleveland? He couldn’t make the “big bucks” in Miami but could win a couple of championships, so does he feel he can pursue both aspects in Cleveland?

When we look at the new Cleveland Cavaliers lineup, it starts to look something like this:
Point guard: Kyrie Irving
Shooting guard: Dion Waiters
Small forward: Andrew Wiggins
Power forward: LeBron James
Center: Anderson Varejao

Insane, right? I would say he’s taking his chances.

Here are LeBron’s top 10 plays during his time with the Miami Heat:

Lebron james freethrow.jpg
Lebron james freethrow” by David Herrerahttp://flickr.com/photos/56181704@N00/471799008. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

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